Haifa, Beirut & Beyond
Haifa, Beirut & Beyond is El-Funoun’s own contemporary interpretation of the complex Palestinian experience of dispossession, ruined nationhood, bitter exile and the all-encompassing nostalgia for the homeland. The main themes are inspired by the oral history of the Nakba (the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948), as well as by some landmark poems of Palestine’s most eloquent voice, Mahmoud Darwish.
This dance saga is composed of four intertwined scenes. The first is set in a coastal village of fishermen in the Haifa region.
Eisheh, a village elder, saunters with her grandchild into a scene of devastation. She recounts to him all about her destroyed village; how she first met her lover, Saleh, there, near the sea, how they built their own home with clay from the land. [It is thought that dabke (traditional Arab dance form based on fervently stomping the ground, practiced in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan) evolved from the rhythmic movements of kneading the clay with feet stamps for construction purposes.]
In a flashback, the young Eisheh re-enacts the intimate moments of courting and boundless ambition that she once shared with her lover. She also relives the sweeping storm and the subsequent parting.
The second scene focuses on the dispossession and dispersion into exile, the most consequential and evocative experience that has shaped the Palestinian ethos thereafter.
A quarrel between the old-guard and the young generation ensues in confronting the relentless news of massacres and ethnic cleansing that pounds the villagers’ ears and clouds their perceptions. Citing the futility of standing up to such an overwhelming force, the old-guard decide to leave to save their own souls. On the contrary, the young, led by Eisheh, resolve to defend their land and their dignity, by actively resisting the colonial onslaught, or by just passively staying steadfast on the land, despite colossally unfavourable odds.
After a quarrel with Eisheh, Saleh decides to leave with his father, the mukhtar (mayor). Eisheh repudiates him, opting to stay, with a handful of villagers.
Terrorized and shaken, most villagers feel compelled to leave, taking with them their iconic house keys. Some leave in makeshift boats, made out of tree trunks, sailing North, to safety. Others hastily mount trucks--that suspiciously arrive out of no-where, taking with them whatever meager possessions they manage to carry along. The revered family-held gold and precious little items are rashly buried out of sight, as their owners believe they will return “later” to unearth them. They are all sure they will be back when “this thing” is over, one day.
“Later,” however, they only find themselves arriving in a foreign land, to become refugees.
Set in an improvised refugee camp near Beirut, the third scene reexamines the experience of living in exile, a short distance away from home, which has grown mythically opulent and lush in the refugees’ traumatized minds. Estrangement reigns. Ironically, the survival instinct sets in soon after. Initial loss gives way to adaptation to the new environment. Out of the tree trunks of their crude boats, the refugees make their temporary tents with generous help from the locals, their Lebanese brethren.
But not everyone in the new land welcomes their seemingly never-ending status as “guests.” After a period of relative stability, they fall prey to a horrific siege.
In exile, their new identity is shaped.
The last scene is set along the forbidding border between Palestine and Lebanon, the heavily-guarded demarcation line that separates the refugees from realizing their dream of return. The dearly-preserved house keys gain prominence here, highlighting the nagging, almost obsessive hope to return.
After a long forcible pause in their relationship, Saleh conveys to Eisheh (through mail) his repentance, as well as his burning desire to meet her. She forgives him and reciprocates with hovering emotion, for she harbors no grudges. They ultimately decide to join in matrimony, despite the gaping distance. Opportunity strikes when the South of Lebanon is liberated. Eisheh and Saleh decide to meet at the border fence. Saleh is accompanied by relatives and friends, and so is Eisheh, from the other side. When the two group impatiently converge at the fence, fantasy mixes with reality. Tragedy blends with the resurrection of entrenched dreams.
“Zaghareed” (Ululations),1997
“Talla Wara Talla” (Tableaus),1994
“Marj Ibn 'Amer”(The Plains of Ibn 'Amer),1989
“Afrah Filastiniyah” (Palestinian Festivities),1987
“Mish’al” (Lantern),1986
“Wadi a-Tuffah” (The Valley of Apples), 1984
“Folkloric Scenes”, 1982
